The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) confirmed that the 39-year-old living Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar has retired from one-day cricket (ODI). Last Sunday Sachin Tendulkar announced the end of his illustrious career in one-day-international cricket.

In a statement released on Sunday, he said: “I have decided to retire from the one-day format of the game; I feel blessed to have fulfilled the dream of being part of a World Cup winning Indian team (in 2011); I am eternally grateful to all my well-wishers for their unconditional support and love over the years.”

In March 2012, Tendulkar played his last one-day match against Pakistan, the team against which he made his début almost exactly 23 years ago.

Known as the “Little Master,” Tendulkar holds the record for scoring the highest number of runs in ODIs, and the first batsman in the history of the one-day cricket to score a double century.

All acknowledge Sachin Tendulkar as the greatest living batsman and second only to Don Bradman.

In June this year India glorified the living cricket legend by nominating him as a member of the Rajya Sabha (or Council of States or the upper house of the Parliament of India).

His ardent fans in India and abroad call him “The God of Cricket”, and the above figures justify that.

We have to thank Shri Raj Singh Dungarpur, former president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India for introducing Ramesh Tendulkar to the world of cricket. The BCCI selection committee under the chairmanship of Dungarpur chose Sachin Tendulkar for the 1989 Indian tour of Pakistan. On his international Test debut in November 1989, Sachin Tendulkar was 16 years 205 days of age, the third youngest cricketer to make his first appearance in international cricket.

Former Indian skippers Krishnamachari Srikkanth and Sourav Ganguly were full of praises for Sachin Tendulkar. Both declared that his records could never be matched.

Srikkanth said: “I am surprised by his move, but he is leaving ODI cricket on a high.”

Sourav Ganguly said: “I felt that he might have played on, but it is his decision.. There was a doubt on whether he would play ODI cricket or not. However, I am not surprised by his decision. He has done what he thought was right.”

“Actually I am surprised,” said Dilip Vengsarkar, the former India captain. “If he is continuing with international cricket [in Tests] then he should have continued with ODI also.”

The Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh tweeted: “Sachin tendulkar a great batsman. great human being. a great friend. great man to look up 2. proud indian. Real son of india. I salute u nd love u. 423 matches, 23 yrs, 18426 runs !!!! These numbers no body else wil be able to come close to. salute salute salute to sachin.”

The England batsman Kevin Pietersen tweeted: “Statistics NEVER lie! They tell a very true story.. Well done Sachin! What an incredible ODI career.. #thebest.”

I am deeply indebted to my readers, for today, I have surpassed 200,000 views since I posted my first article “Flight from Chennai to Washington” on January 12, 2012. The WordPress stats show views only from February 2012, whereas I started posting from mid January.

In January, 2012, I posted only four articles. However, from February 3rd onwards, I posted at least one article each day. So far, I have published 447 articles, including this one.

I had only a total of 779 views in February 2012, a meager 28 views per day. The number of views gradually increased each month. For the past 23 days in December, I have 25,120 views at an average of 1,135 views per day, up to the time of uploading (3:00 AM EST) this thank-you note.

At sunrise on Friday, December 21, 2012, an era in the Long Count calendar of the Maya came to an end. Many different groups of people around the world expected the end of days catastrophes, and the dawn of a new, more spiritual era. However, the world did not end on that day as expected.

Now I know why!

Photo: REUTERS/Mariana Bazo

On December 20, 2012, at a beach in Lima, Peruvian shamans performed a ritual to prevent the end of the world. The shamans performed several rituals to ward off the forces that would bring about the end of the world.

Should not we thank these Peruvian Shamans for keeping us all alive today?

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